1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to apparatus for producing water gas by electrolysis at standard room temperature and pressure. The invention further relates to such apparatus and a method for electrolyzing water and carbon to produce clean water gas which is substantially free from carbon dioxide and oxygen impurities.
2. Description of the Prior Art
"Water gas" is a combustible mixture of gases including primarily hydrogen and carbon monoxide which may be used in a large variety of applications ranging from home heating and powering of automobiles and other vehicles to a wide range of industrial applications. In the prior art, water gas was produced by first igniting coal or coke then blowing air through it until the coal or coke reached a "white hot" temperature, well above 1000.degree. C. The air was then shut off and blasts of steam were blown through the hot coal or coke producing a chemical reaction yielding primarily a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Once the coal or coke cools down to around 1000.degree. C., the steam was shut off and air again blown through the coal or coke to bring it back to the desired temperature and the process was then repeated.
There were quite a number of problems involved with this process. The container, called a stove or generator, was very costly because of the lining materials which had to withstand the high temperatures involved in the process. However, most importantly, the water gas so produced contained a number of impurities including carbon dioxide, nitrogen and oxygen which are undesirable from the standpoint of safe and efficient combustion. Oxygen in particular was a particularly undesirable as it rendered the gas per se combustible without the introduction of oxygen from the atmosphere or an external source thereby making the gas generated dangerous to handle and store. Moreover, the process was generally inefficient as the large amounts of heat energy generated by the coal or coke was wasted.